The Greater Houston Business Ethics Roundtable recognized University of St. Thomas Master of Business Administration students, Britani Nielsen and Carla Rodriguez, as 2013 emerging leaders. The GHBER Bette Stead Scholarship is a $3,000 award applied toward tuition. The scholarship was awarded by Rick Chapman, the Assistant General Counsel for the Anti-Corruption and International Compliance Law Department at Halliburton.

“It is definitely a privilege to be recognized and have had the opportunity to be in Dr. Simms’ class,” Rodriguez said. “I have learned a lot and hope to pass down this learning to future generations in both a professional and personal capacity.”

Nielsen, who will complete her MBA in marketing and international business this May, plans on going into oil and gas to work in marketing where she will use her knowledge of ethics in making connections between people and businesses.

Rodriguez, who will complete her MBA in international business this May as well, is currently working in oil and gas as a procurement specialist in the supply chain department for Schlumberger. She plans on moving into management once her MBA is complete and will use this award as leverage while continuing to network.

CBE strives to help business people and students make good choices that benefit themselves, their businesses and their community. Dr. Michele Simms, former director of the Cameron School of Business Center for Business Ethics, said the MBA ethics courses are designed to educate the whole person, and Nielsen and Rodriguez were strong candidates to illustrate the ideal.

“You want to be ethical, especially in management, because you want to be a leader,” Nielsen said. “We have all seen what being unethical has done to businesses. Being ethical is not anything that is difficult to do, so why would you not do it.”

GHBER is a voluntary professional organization dedicated to promoting ethical business practices and serving as a forum for the exchange of information and strategies regarding implementation, administration and compliance of ethical business conduct programs.

Each year, GHBER awards a scholarship to students who show promise as future leaders in business ethics at St. Thomas, the University of Houston, Rice University, Houston Baptist University and Texas Southern University.

During spring break, two students from the University of St. Thomas traded the warmer H...

University of St. Thomas
The University of St. Thomas, dedicated to educating leaders of faith and character, is a private institution committed to the liberal arts and to the religious, ethical and intellectual tradition of Catholic higher education. St. Thomas is Houston’s only Catholic University and was founded by the Basilian Fathers in 1947.